Marco Barbieri

There is an old man in a colourful uniform standing under a traffic light. When the light is red he stops people from crossing, when it’s green he invites them to move on. His function mirrors that of the object above his head.

The mechanical simplicity of his tasks makes him a gear inside a system he has/wants to fit in.

This photographic series starts from this epiphany and from a fascination with two books. One is about objects that lost their purpose becoming works of art. The other is about buildings performing multiple duties to fit within their surroundings.

Japan shameless spatial compositions and its inhabitants are both the background and a core point of my reflection on a very structured society where everything is in its right place. It’s about sense of belonging, homogenisation and isolation.